The last big milestone, I think

I hadn’t been watching it super closely, but I was certainly aware that a milestone was approaching. For awhile, I thought it might happen on Richard Armitage’s 41st birthday. When I left the Internet to go to bed last night, however, this was my hit counter:

And when I opened the Internet this morning, this is how it looked:

Sometime about two or three hours after the end of Armitage Day in my time zone, the counter on “me + richard armitage” flipped on a million hits.

It’s also the last big milestone I’m likely to celebrate as a blogger. The next one would be 2.5 million hits — which seems an impossibly large number — or 2,500 posts (at the rate I’m going, about 3 years in the future, if I am still blogging here then).

Beyond that, I don’t have anything prepared to say, except “Thank you!” It’s too simple — in words, and to cover my very complex emotions — maybe I’ll blog about this stuff eventually, at the moment I’m just too busy with preparing for work and the King Richard Armitage Week 2012 stuff — but it is both the thing I need to say right now, and the thing I want to say right now, to everyone.

To say that I never anticipated most of what has happened on this blog — including this number of hits — would be a frighteningly large understatement!

On the whole, I’ve never been one to encourage lurkers to delurk very actively, but if you lurk — or if you’re an active commentator, too — I’d love to hear from you today. Because — while the writing here is my effort and my achievement — the popularity of the blog, the number of you who come here to read and chat and think and opine and commiserate and encourage and squeee and everything else that you do — that is your achievement.

I’m very grateful to Richard Armitage for inspiring all of this. And I’m doubly grateful for all of you for doing it!

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I can’t resist a plug, though. Want to support Richard Armitage’s pet project and one of mine, too? The Day 2 King Richard Armitage Quiz Questions are live here. Every correct answer gives you a chance to determine the recipient of our £91! I’ll be back to blog about this later, when I’ve done a little more work.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch, Servetus! A million hits is pretty amazing. About one a day comes courtesy of moi, and I am following your call to de-lurk today and congratulate you on this momentous occasion. I know what I am talking about because I have been ‘properly’ blogging (not just tumblring) for three years in the craft-world and I am nowhere near your numbers! It’s testament to the intelligence, diligence and trust with which you blog so eloquently. I love reading your legenda (my weekly source of current affairs in RAland), admire your amazing analyses of anything from RA’s trouser breaks (here’s something I never even knew existed) to micro-scenes in RH, and delight in some of the more juicy content. I love that you write so elaborately (you can tell – my text takes on biblical proportions, too) and frequently.
Keep it up, please, it enhances my day, even with the more ‘difficult’ posts!

This was the first RA blog I came across, and is still my point of reference till this day! It’s not only the popularity of your blog that is so wonderful. It’s that you help to spread the word about other bloggers, and you support all our RA initiatives. You bring together a whole community of friends. That’s what I’m so grateful for!
Congrats Servetus!

Like Agzym, this was also the first Armitage blog I came across. I so look forward to each email notification, updating me that you’ve posted. You inspire us to think and feel, to be generous and give. All wonderful things. Congrats on the milestone, Serv!

Congratulations Servetus, this is amazing. I’m here since summer of 2010. I love the way you look at things that seem trivial, at an intelligent and thought provoking way. And I love the fact that this is the most popular RA related blog, it tells a lot about this fandom.

Thanks, Arfan — you’v really been here for a long time, lol. I also like the picture of the fandom that I obtain through commentators — lot of very smart, but also free spirited, folks. May it continue that way.

Silliness aside momentarily … yours was the first RA blog I found when I fell under his spell. It pointed me to others, and those to still others, and showed me the breadth of the community I was visiting, as well as the depth of intelligence, camaraderie, and all out fun.

Yours was the first place I ever braved to comment (and aren’t you all sorry now that I did), and gave me the courage to do so on others’ blogs. (It’s all her fault, Angie. 😉 ) You have offered huge support to me, and to others that take the blog plunge.

So, you’re welcome for us coming out here and ringing up the count. But *I* have to say thank *you* for blogging about our communal inspiration, thereby providing a space where we can think, squee, aspire, drool, conspire and occasionally thud.

Fantastic! Congratulations, Servetus 🙂 Yours was one of the first RA blogs I stumbled upon last year. I kept coming back because you forced me to think! lmao I’m glad we met in ArmitageWorld chat – it’s been a lot of fun! You’ve been very encouraging when I have struggled with my classes and I truly appreciate it. *hugs*

CongRAtulations and thank you (!!!) for this wonderful writing, Servetus! You bring me back and I am waiting for each news that a new post is on your blog. It is a celebration, when your articles come and an honour to read them. You have a very special way to get my grey and lazy cells in my brain to get going ;o)

Many congrats from me also Servetus! I “unlurked” only recently but I have been following you since early this year, and I keep going back to your earlier posts as well. Your thoughtful exposés and quirky observations, compelling analyses and frank fantasies definitely enrich and inspire me. Thanks for everything, best wishes to you, and please, please keep writing!

Congrats Professor! I “lurked” for quite a long time and first “de-lurked” only recently. I enjoy having something thought provoking yet fun to read, and I realize how much I miss academic discourse. Somehow true academics can find complexity in subjects that many brush off as simple (that’s a compliment BTW), and your blog provides great brain food, both from you and from so many of the wonderful people who comment. Thanks for everything!

Congratulations Servetus! Your blog was the first that I found, and is always first in every way. Your posts (not just about Richard) always give me a lot to think about, and I thank you very much for that.

Congratulations! I second everything the others have said! And I for one hope that this will not be your last milestone! I don’t think the 2,5 million hits is out of the realms of possibility at all- if you keep blogging after TH, which I very much hope you will!!! Keep up the fantastic work and thank you!

Wow, congratulations! Your blog is a “must read”, although I sometimes don’t understand all the meanings. But makes me think, that is good. 🙂
I also admire your courage and humanity, and love your analytical posts.
Thank you!

Herzlichen Glückwunsch!! I have been following your blog since July 2010 now – about 6 weeks after I first watched North and South. I’ve been visiting here ever since although it took me quite a while to ‘delurk’…
I hope you’ll continue blogging for a long time… xxx 🙂

Congratulations servetus- that is a huge achievement. Although I think there is a snowball effect going on- word is spreading about this intelligent, thought provoking blog named after a man who is about to gain a whole new legion of fans -I think you might be surprised how soon that 2.5 million rolls around. This was also my first blog and I lurked for ages. The legenda is a weekly treat and has linked me to so many other clever sites. And I know I can rely on you to keep me up to speed with breaking news! I’ve also felt moved and privileged to read about your own life. Thank you.

yes. I think it’s a lot easier now than it was even a year ago, and definitely than when I started. I am getting double the average daily hits that I was a year ago — that’s partially due to Armitage’s greater visibility, but also due to the fact that because people hit this blog and leave comments it climbs in google ratings so curious people are more likely to see it than they were when I started.

Like we stated yesterday: This is wild, Servetus!!!
Since your posts quite often meet the requirements to be called a discourse or better, a real challenge (for me), with inter alia all this strange and complicated looking English words, they often need a more profoundly reading. Therefore I play a conspicuous part in contributing to the increasing number of hits! (Oh, my reluctantly stubborn vocabulary-brain cells!!! Probably the juvenile flexibility is already missing???? Ha, Ha! Or shall I just blame this breathtakingly gorgeous British gentleman for vehemently jumbling up all my brains??) Blessedly Servetus will take care of this and that and will keep me and all the others on our toes!! LOL
You know how much I love your writings!! Visiting your blog on a daily basis is one of my most favourite things to do. We all need rituals, don’t we? 😉

Congratulations, Servetus! I don’t often comment but I visit your blog at least once a day. You are very thoughtful, witty, sensitive and kind, all wrapped in one. Here’s to hitting your next milestone!

Congratulations servetus! I’m so glad I delurked a year ago and joined in with this funny, thoughtful, and intelligent group.
You make me think (I don’t pretend to understand all that you write but I try, which has to be good for the grey matter!) but it’s such fun too with the laughter and the ogling. Thankyou! 🙂

If I haven’t said it before, I am saying it now … this is a great blog. I think it is great, not just for the subject matter, dear Richard, but also because of the exceptional writing, and the genuine kind feelings among the respondents and lurkers. I have only seen respect and appreciation for everyone. This is truly rare. I like to think that it is inspired by our affection and admiration for Richard Armitage, a true and generous gentleman.

Servetus, Congratulations! You know your posts are great. There are the ones that make me laugh and sometimes so hard that I cry. Then there are those post that just make me cry due to they really speak to me. You are a very talented writer and no matter what keep writing, I am sure you will make 2.5 million. I was reading your blog for about a year and a half just standing on the sidelines taking it all in. There was something about your blog that just drew me in and its more than R.A.

thanks, katie70. I should stress that it’s not about the hits. That’s just one way to measure that people are reading — it’s about getting to express myself the way I want, and the more that happens, I feel like the better the quality of what I am doing. I appreciate your reading and your responses!

Congratulations on your million + hits. I think you underestimate the time it will take to reach that 2 million mark. Once December rolls around, you may be overwhelmed with all the RA fans. And once they take that first hit, they won’t be just RA fans….they’ll be Servetus fans. Your blog is funny, smart, thought provoking, entertaining, diverse – I could go on and on with all the reason I enjoy visiting here. You really are an inspiration – something you have in common with Mr. RA. Thanks for letting us join you on your journey.

Thanks for the good wishes, Sloan. But another 1.5M hits is a lot. Even if my daily traffic doubled in the wake of December, it would still take over 500 days for that to happen — a year and a third! But hey, I’ll take whatever comes. Thanks for your encouragement and camaraderie along the way.

I forgot to mention that your blog’s also enligtening — which was the main reason I kept coming back in the beginning. I’m don’t know what your daily traffic is, but I get the feeling after RA makes his debut in a major movie it could more than double.

Congratulations! I am so glad that your efforts here are appreciated. You have the gift of making us think, entertaining us, and going where many of us would not think to tread. I may not always be able to read and comment, but I’m so glad you write and post your thoughts to share.

[…] pretty bad. So I want to put this out there today, especially after hearing so often this week that Legenda is something you look forward to. Since I mostly blog to suit myself, it’s the least I can do […]

Sorry to be SO LATE to post here. I’ve just been reflecting on how important your blog has been for me over the past year.

Truth is, if I hadn’t found your blog and this space that keeps the synapses firing with intelligent discussion about your life (and sometimes, the actor in the 2nd half of your blog title), I might have given up on the UK, pulled an Eric Cartman, “Screw you guys, I’m going home”, and repatriated back to the US. 😀

I know this blog is mostly for you – but I hope you are aware of the positive externality of GOOD you also create for your readers.

So I’ll simply say ‘Congratulations’ on the milestone and ‘Thanks so much for the quality output and community of commenters you’ve attracted here’.

We’ll be reading (and lurking) as long as the blogging is still fun for you. 😉